Apparatus, and associated method, for completing a call to a packet-network, telephonic station

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, and an associated method, for facilitating a call to a packet-network, telephonic station, such as an SIP phone. The call is originated at a originating station formed of a telephonic station of a time-domain-multiplexing network. A call establishment creator is embodied at a media server forming a portion of the packet data network. A call, originated at the originating station, is routed to the call establishment creator. Once the call is routed thereto, an interactive session is formed between the media server and the originating station. During the interactive session, the information needed to ascertain the identity of the terminating station is ascertained, and the call is routed thereto.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/023,576filed Dec. 14, 2001, entitled “Apparatus, and Associated Method forCompleting a Call to a Packet Network, Telephonic Station” by RonaldFranklin Watts.

The present invention relates generally to a manner by which toeffectuate telephonic communication with a packet-network, telephonicstation, such as an SIP (session initiation protocol) phone, formed,e.g., at a personal computer workstation. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to apparatus, and an associated method, by which topermit a call, originated at a calling station of a time domainmultiplexing network, to be routed to the packet-network, telephonicstation. The call was originated at the calling station through entrythereat of a specified telephone number. The call origination causes acommunication session to be formed between the calling station and anentity, such as a media server, of the packet data network. During thecommunication session, the identity of the packet-network, telephonicstation is determined, and the call is routed thereto. Thepacket-network, telephonic station need not be uniquely identified by atelephone number normally used in the time domain multiplexing network.Instead, a packet-network identifier, such as an IP address, is used toidentify the packet-network telephonic station.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telephonic communication through the use of telephonic communicationsystems is a necessary aspect of modern society. Telephonic networks ofvarious telephonic communication systems have been installed throughoutsignificant portions of the populated areas of the world.

Telephonic stations are connected to the telephonic network, such as bya wireline connection or a radio interface. A communication session isformed between two, or more, of the telephonic stations connected to atelephonic network. The telephonic station at which a call is originatedis sometimes referred to as the calling party, and the telephonicstation at which the call is to be completed, or terminated, issometimes referred to as the called party.

In most conventional telephonic communication systems, circuit-switchedconnections are provided between endpoints, i.e., the calling and calledparties, of a communication session. When a circuit-switched connectionis formed, a dedicated channel is provided to permit the telephoniccommunications between the telephonic stations that form the endpointsof the communication sessions. For so long as the connection ismaintained, telephonic communications between the calling and calledparties are permitted. As the data to be communicated pursuant to thecommunication session might only be communicated intermittently, thecommunication capacity of the telephonic communication system isregularly, therefore, not fully utilized. Use of circuit-switchedconnections, as a result, inefficiently utilizes the communicationcapacity of a telephonic network.

Packet-switched communications, in contrast, are able more efficientlyto utilize the communication capacity of a communication system. In apacket-based communication system, a common data path can be sharedamongst two or more separate communication sessions. Becausepacket-formatted data can be communicated during discrete intervals, thesame data path can be utilized to communicate packet-formatted data,during, e.g., separate time periods. More efficient utilization of thecommunication capacity of the communication system in which thepacket-based communication scheme is implemented is thereby possible.

Various packet formatting protocols are used when forming, and sending,data packets formed of digital data bits. One protocol scheme, theInternet protocol (IP), or IP protocol, is regularly utilized in manydifferent communication systems and communication applications.Communication devices and apparatus constructed to send, receive,transport, and operate upon IP-formatted data can be configured togetherin a communication system to provide for the communication ofIP-formatted data.

The Internet is exemplary of a packet-based communication system. Datacommunicated by way of the Internet is formatted into packets and sentduring discrete intervals. The packets, typically, are formattedpursuant to the IP protocol and include a header portion and a payloadportion. The header portion contains the identity of the intendeddestination of the packet. An IP address identifies the destination ofthe packet. IP addresses are conventionally formatted pursuant to astandardized identification scheme, such as an IPv4 IPv6 identificationscheme. Data packets that are to be communicated include in their headerportions the IP addresses of the device to which the data packets are tobe delivered.

Computer stations connected to conventional packet data networks, suchas the Internet, are sometimes configured to permit telephoniccommunication to be effectuated therethrough. A call is routed throughthe packet data network, and the data that is communicated pursuant to atelephonic communication session can be formed of voice, as well asother, data. The computer station used as a telephonic endpoint forms atelephonic station.

When the other telephonic station with which the communication sessionis formed is operable in a conventional, circuit-switched telephonicsystem, the identity of the called party formed of the circuit-switchedtelephonic station is that which conventionally identifies thetelephonic station in the circuit-switched system. More particularly,the telephonic station is identified pursuant to a specified numberingplan. The numbering plan used in North America, e.g., is the NorthAmerica number plan. When the call is originated at the packet-network,telephonic station, the called party, formed of the circuit-switched,telephonic station, is easily identifiable by the telephone numberassociated therewith.

But, when instead, the call is initiated by a circuit-switched,telephonic station and the called party is formed of the packet-network,telephonic station, no correspondingly easy manner by which to identifythe called party is available. Although the packet-network station isidentified by its IP address, the address is not as readily entered bythe calling party. That is to say, presently, no graceful manner isavailable by which to place a call to a packet-network, telephonicstation from a circuit-switched telephonic station.

An improved manner by which to place a call to a packet-switched,telephonic station, such as an SIP phone, would therefore beadvantageous.

It is in light of this background information related to telephoniccommunications with a packet-switched, telephonic station that thesignificant improvements of the present invention have evolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, accordingly, advantageously provides apparatus,and an associated method, by which to effectuate telephoniccommunication with a packet-network telephonic station, such as a SIPphone.

Through operation of an embodiment of the present invention, a manner isprovided by which to permit a call, originated at a calling stationoperable in a time domain multiplexed network, to be routed to thepacket-network, telephonic station.

A call is initiated, or otherwise originated, at the calling stationthrough entry thereat of a specified telephone number. The callorigination causes a communication session to be formed between thecalling station and an entity, such as a media server, of the packetdata network. During the communication session, the identity of thepacket-network, telephonic station is determined and the call is routedthereto. The call is routed, for instance, by way of a media gatewaythat connects the time domain multiplexing network together with thepacket network for delivery to the media server. An initialcommunication session is thereafter formed between the media server ofthe packet network and the calling station of the time domain network.Once the initial communication session is formed between the callingparty and the media server, further identification of the identity ofthe called party is ascertained. The call is then routed to thepacket-network telephonic station forming the called party. And, acommunication session is formed between the calling party and the calledparty.

In one aspect of the present invention, the call originated at thecalling party of the time domain multiplexing network is placed to anumber identified by the number plan utilized in the time domainmultiplexing network, such as a North American number plan. The numberis, for instance, an 800 number, that utilizes a mnemonic identifier,e.g., 1-800-SIP-CALL. When the number is entered by the calling party,the time domain multiplexing network, to which the time domainmultiplexing, telephonic station is coupled, routes the call to a mediagateway that functions as a bridge interconnecting the time domainmultiplexing network and the packet network. The media gateway to whichthe call is routed, in turn, inquires of an application server of thepacket network to inquire of the identity of a media server to which toroute the call. The identity of the media server is returned to themedia gateway, the call is routed to the designated media server, and acommunication session is formed between the calling party and the mediaserver. Upon formation of the communication session therebetween, aninteractive session is formed between the media server and theoriginating party formed of the calling party. During the interactivesession therebetween, additional information is provided by the callingparty to permit the identity of the called party to be ascertained.

In another aspect of the present invention, during the interactivesession, the calling party enters values corresponding to the IP addressof the packet-network telephonic station forming the called party. Upondelivery to the media server of the information, the call is routed tothe called party.

In another aspect of the present invention, the media server includes adatabase at which IP addresses of packet-network, telephonic stationsare indexed together with mnemonics associated therewith. During theinteractive session between the media server and the calling party, thecalling party enters a mnemonic associated with the called party. Upondelivery to the media server, the database is searched to learn the IPaddress associated with the mnemonic associated with the called party.When the IP address is ascertained, the call is routed to the calledparty to be terminated thereat. The mnemonic entered by the callingparty comprises, for instance, the last name of the called party, astored digit sequence, such as that used pursuant to speed-dialingoperations, or other indicia, such as voice data that is transduced by avoice-to-data transducer located at the media server. A URL associatedwith the called party is, alternately, entered by the calling party.And, other types of indicia can also, of course, be utilized.

Because a call placed to the packet-network, telephonic station formingthe called party is initiated through normal telephonic dialing by atime domain multiplexing, telephonic station, a straightforward mannerby which to initiate a call to the packet-network telephonic station isprovided.

In these and other aspects, therefore, apparatus, and an associatedmethod, is provided for a telephone communication system having a packetdata network and a time domain multiplexing network.Time-domain-multiplexing telephonic stations of the time domainmultiplexing network are identified pursuant to a first selectednumbering plan. And, packet-based telephonic stations of the packet datanetwork are identified by an other-than-first-selected numbering plan.Placement of a call originated at an originating telephonic station ofthe time-domain-multiplexing telephonic station is facilitated. The callis for completion at a terminating telephonic station of thepacket-based telephonic stations. A session establishment creator ispositioned at the packet-based network and is coupled to receiveindications of the originating telephonic station. The origination ofthe call is effectuated through entry of the originating telephonicstation of a selected identification sequence defined pursuant to thefirst selected numbering plan. The session establishment creator createsa session permitting communication therefrom with the originatingtelephonic station and the text entry by the originating telephonicstation of an identifier that identifies the termination station. Theidentifier used by the session establishment creator completes the callwith the terminating telephonic station.

A more complete appreciation of the present invention and the scopethereof can be obtained from the accompanying drawings that are brieflysummarized below, the following detailed description of thepresently-preferred embodiments of the invention, and the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a telephoniccommunication system in which an embodiment of the present invention isoperable.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional representation of a database usedpursuant to operation of an embodiment of the present invention by whichto route a call to a SIP phone, or other packet-network telephonicstation of the communication system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a message sequence diagram illustrating the messagesgenerated during operation of an embodiment of the present invention bywhich to route a call originated at a time domain multiplexingtelephonic station to a SIP phone, or other packet-network telephonicstation.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram listing the method of operationof an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, telephonic communication system, showngenerally at 10, operates to provide for communications betweencommunication stations, here telephonic stations, that are connected to,or otherwise operable in, the communication system. In the exemplaryimplementation, the telephonic communication system includes twoseparate network portions, a time domain multiplexing (TDM) network 14and a packet data network (PDN) network portion 16. The network portions14 and 16 are interconnected by way of a media gateway 18 that operatesas a bridge that interconnects the separate network portions. While, inthe exemplary implementation, the packet data network forms the Internetbackbone, the packet data network is also representative of other typesof packet data networks, both public and private. Telephonic stations22, connected to the TDM network 14, are favorable of originatingtelephone calls. The telephonic stations 22 are, for instance, POTS(plain old telephone service) telephones. More generally, the telephonicstations 22 are representative of any time-domain-multiplexing networktelephonic stations. In conventional manner, the telephonic stations 22are capable of originating calls to be completed with other telephonicstations connected to the TDM network. The TDM network generally isoperable to provide circuit-switched connections between the callingparty and called party of a call. The telephonic station from which acall is originated is referred to as the calling party, and thetelephonic station at which the call is terminated is referred to as thecalled party.

Devices connected to the packet data network also include telephonicstations, here designated at 26, capable of telephonic communication.Telephonic stations 26 here form SIP (session interface protocol)phones. More generally, though, is representative of any packet-network,telephonic station. The telephonic stations 26 are formed, for instance,of computer workstations having appropriate software executable thereatto form a telephonic station capable of communicating telephonically byway of the packet data network 16. Commercially-available systems areavailable to permit a user of a workstation forming an SIP phone, orother packet-network telephonic station, to originate a call therefrom.The telephonic station 26, when forming a calling party, is able readilyto originate a call to a called party formed of a telephonic station 22of the TDM network 14. As the telephonic stations 22 are identified by atelephone number, such as a telephone number designated pursuant to theNorth American number plan, ready identification of the called party canbe entered by a user of the calling party 26 from which a call isoriginated. That is, initiation of a call originated at a SIP phone ismade by entering the telephone number associated with a called partyformed of a TDM-network telephonic station 22. Because the TDM-networktelephonic stations are readily identifiable by their respectivetelephone numbers, such call origination is easily implemented.

However, calls originated by a calling party for termination at a SIPphone 26 are not so easily initiated. Packet-network, telephonicstations are effectively unable to be identified by the same numberingplan by which the POTS phones 22 of the TDM network are identified.While the telephonic stations 26 of the packet data network, as well asother devices of the packet data network, are identified by IP (Internetprotocol) addresses, conventional POTS phones 22, or other TDM-networktelephonic stations, are conventionally unable conveniently to place acall to a SIP phone.

The packet data network 16 is here shown to include an applicationserver 28 and a media server 32. Apparatus 34 of an embodiment of thepresent invention forms portions of the application server and mediaserver 28 and 32, respectively. The apparatus 34 is functionallyrepresented and can be implemented in any desired manner, such as byalgorithms executable by appropriate processing circuitry. The apparatus34 operates to facilitate routing of a call originated by a callingparty, such as a telephonic station 22, to a called party formed of aselected packet-network telephonic station 26. When operated, theapparatus 34 permits a call originated by a calling party to initiate acall to a called party by entering a telephone number recognized by thenumber plan used by the TDM network to which the originating partyformed of a telephonic station 22 is connected.

The number entered at the originating station is a number associatedwith telephonic stations connected to the packet data network. When thetelephone number is entered pursuant to initiate a call to a telephonicstation 26 of the packet data network, the call is routed to the mediagateway 18. The media gateway, upon detection of placement of the call,inquires of the application server 28 for instructions as to how toroute the call. The inquiry generated by the media gateway is providedto an inquiry detector 36 forming a portion of the apparatus 34positioned at the application server. The detector operates to detectthe inquiry generated by the media gateway responsive to origination ofthe call by the calling party 22. Responsive to the detection of theinquiry at the detector 36, a determination is made of the identity of aport of a media server, here the media server 32, that shall support thecompletion of the call to a designated SIP, or other packet-network,phone. A determination is made of the available port of the media serverand provides the determined information to the media gateway. The mediagateway then routes the call to the port of the media server. Theapparatus 34 of the media server includes a session establishmentcreator 38. The session establishment creator operates to create aninteractive session between the media server and the calling party.Namely, the media gateway upon instructions of the application server28, routes the call to the designated media server, and the sessionestablishment creator thereat creates the interactive session with thecalling party. When the interactive session is formed, the caller thatoperates the originating telephonic station enters additionalinformation that identifies the called party.

In one implementation, the calling party enters values corresponding tothe IP address of the called party, such as by way of appropriateactuation of the telephonic keypad of the originating station. Suitabledelimiters, such as the star key and the pound key, can be used to inputperiods separating parts of the IP address and to indicate completion ofan entry and another suitable character input, such as a double star,can be used to erase a character.

In another implementation, the apparatus further includes a database 42in which IP addresses of the SIP, or other packet-network, phones areindexed together with mnemonics associated therewith. In thisembodiment, the caller utilizing the originating telephonic station toplace the call inputs indicia associated with a mnemonic that identifiesthe telephonic station forming the called party. The mnemonic entered bythe caller is, for instance, the last name of the called party and anassociated keyword, registered by the user of the SIP phone. Additionalinformation might be required to be entered by the caller that operatesthe originating station, such as a first name associated with the calledparty or a city associated with the called party.

In a further implementation, speed-dialing services are used and, duringthe interactive session between the originating station and the mediaserver, entry of a speed-dial number causes transmission by the callingstation of a lengthy sequence of digits, such as a URL of the calledparty or any other type of mnemonic indicia, or IP address of the calledparty. And, a voice recognition procedure is utilized in a furtherembodiment of the present invention. The user of the originating stationenters, verbally, the additional indicia, and apparatus at the callestablishment creator converts the voice information into a databaseinquiry to inquire of the IP address indexed together with the entered,mnemonic information.

Once the IP address of the called party is determined, either by directentry thereof at the calling station or determination of the IP addressof the called party through access to the database, the call is routedto the called party.

FIG. 2 illustrates again the database 42 forming a portion of theapparatus 34 (shown in FIG. 1) of an embodiment of the presentinvention. Here, the database is shown to include a listing of IPaddresses of packet-network telephonic stations, here indicated in thecolumn 46. Indexed together with the IP addresses are mnemonicindicators, listed in the column 48. And, keywords associated with theIP addresses identifying the packet-network telephonic stations. Thekeywords are entered by users of the packet-network telephonic stationsand are used for registration purposes. In an implementation in whichmnemonics are entered by a user of the originating station pursuant toan interactive session between the originating station and the mediaserver, the database is accessed to index the IP address associated withthe entered mnemonic. The accessed IP address is then to route the callto the called party.

FIG. 3 illustrates a message sequence diagram, shown generally at 54,representative of signaling generated to route a call originated at aTDM-network telephonic station for termination at a selectedpacket-network telephonic station. The originating station forms thecalling party, and the telephonic station 26 forms the called party.

When the call is originated, the caller of the originating stationenters dialing digits, such as 1-800-SIP-CALL, or other number, toinitiate the call. The call is routed, indicated by the segment 56, tothe media gateway 18. Upon delivery to the media gateway 18, the mediagateway inquires of the application server 28 for instructions as torouting of the call. The inquiry is indicated by the segment 58.

Responsive thereto, the application server inquires of a media server 32of the identity of a port of the media server available for the call.The segment 62 is representative of the inquiry, and the segment 64 isrepresentative of the response to the request. In one implementation,the application server includes a database that identifies the mediaserver from amongst media servers 32 to which the call can be routed.And, in another implementation, the media server is programmed tosupport the call placement application, and the call placementapplication only, on specific incoming ports thereof. The media gateway,in such an implementation, need not communicate with the applicationserver, but can, instead, route the call immediately to the mediaserver. The identity of the port of the media server is here provided,indicated by the segment 66, to the media gateway, and, responsivethereto, and an interactive communication session, indicated by theblock 72, is created. During the interactive session, additionalinformation is provided by the originating station to the media server,and the database 42 is accessed, indicated by the segment 74, ifappropriate, and data is retrieved therefrom, indicated by the segment76. When the IP address of the called party is identified, the call isrouted thereto, and a communication session, indicated by the block 82,is formed between the calling party and the called party formed of thetelephonic stations 22 and 26, respectively. Thereby, a call isestablished therebetween.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram, shown generally at 88, of anembodiment of the present invention. The method is for facilitatingplacement of a call originated at an originating telephonic station of atime-domain-multiplexing telephonic network for completion at aterminating telephonic station of a packet data network.

First, and as indicated by the block 92, the call is originated at theoriginating station. Origination of the call is initiated through entryat the originating station of a selected identification sequence definedpursuant to a selected numbering plan.

Then, and as indicated by the block 94, a session establishment creatorelement positioned at the packet-network is detected. Then, and asindicated by the block 96, a session between the session establishmentcreator element and the originating telephonic station is created. Then,and as indicated by the block 98, an identifier is sent from theoriginating telephonic station to the session establishment creator. Theidentifier identifies the terminating station. Thereafter, and asindicated by the block 100, the call is completed to the terminatingstation.

Thereby, a manner is provided by which to permit origination of a callat a calling station of a TDM network to be terminated at a telephonicstation of a packet data network.

The previous descriptions are of preferred examples for implementing theinvention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily belimited by this description. The scope of the present invention isdefined by the following claims:

1. In a telephone communication system having a packet-data network anda time domain multiplexing network, time-domain-multiplexing telephonicstations of the time domain multiplexing network identified pursuant toa first selected numbering plan and packet-based telephonic stations ofthe packet data network identified by an other-than-first-selectednumbering plan, an improvement of an assembly for facilitating placementof a call originated at an originating telephonic station of thetime-domain-multiplexing telephonic station for completion at aterminating telephonic station of the packet-based telephonic stations,said assembly comprising: a session establishment creator positioned atthe packet-based network and coupled to receive indications oforiginating telephonic station, the origination of the call effectuatedthrough entry at the originating telephonic station of a selectedidentification sequence defined pursuant to the first selected numberingplan, said session establishment creator for creating a sessionpermitting communication therefrom with the originating telephonicstation and for detecting entry by the originating telephonic station ofan identifier that identifies the termination station, the identifierused by said session establishment creator to complete the call with theterminating telephonic station an index database in which an IP addressassociated with the terminating telephonic station is indexed togetherwith a mnemonic associated therewith and wherein the identifier enteredby the originating telephonic station comprises a representation of themnemonic.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a detectorpositioned at the packet-based network, said detector for detecting theorigination of the call by the originating telephonic station andwherein the indications of the origination of the call to which saidsession establishment creator is coupled to receive are formed by saiddetector.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the packet-based networkcomprises an application server and wherein said detector is embodied atthe application server.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein thepacket-based network further comprises at least a first media server andwherein said session establishment creator is embodied at the at leastthe first media server.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the at leastthe first media server comprises the first media server and at least asecond media server, and wherein said session establishment creator isembodied at a selected one of the first and at least second mediaservers.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said detector embodied atthe application server is further for selecting at which of the firstand at least second media servers that the session establishment creatoris to be embodied.
 7. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the communicationsystem comprises a media gateway positioned to interconnect thepacket-based telephonic network and the time domain multiplexing networkand wherein the call originated at the originating telephonic station isrouted to said detector by way of the media gateway.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the communication system comprises a media gatewaypositioned to interconnect the packet-based telephonic network and thetime domain multiplexing network and wherein indications of the calloriginated at the originating telephonic station are provided by themedia gateway to said session establishment creator.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 8 wherein the media gateway is identified by an identifierconforming to the first selected numbering plan and wherein theindications of the origination of the call are provided to said sessionestablishment creator subsequent to delivery of the call origination atthe media gateway.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the packet-basedtelephonic network comprises an IP network that utilizes IP protocolnomenclature and wherein the identifier entered by the originatingtelephonic station subsequent to creation of the session between saidsession establishment creator and the originating telephonic stationcomprises an IP address associated with the terminating telephonicstation.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the entry by theoriginating telephonic station of the identifier comprises a voice entryand wherein said session establishment creator searches the indexdatabase subsequent to conversion of the voice entry into text form. 12.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said session establishment creatorcauses the index database to be searched to locate the IP addressassociated with the mnemonic of which the representation thereof isreceived by said session establishment creator during the session formedwith the originating telephonic station.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12wherein said session establishment creator further comprises avoice-to-text converter, wherein the entry by the originating telephonicstation of the identifier comprises a voice entry and wherein saidsession establishment creator searches the index database subsequent toconversion of the voice entry into text form.
 14. The apparatus of claim1 wherein a user identity is associated with the terminating telephonicstation and wherein the mnemonic is imitative of the user identity. 15.A method for facilitating placement of a call originated at anoriginating telephonic station of a time-domain-multiplexing network forcompletion at a terminating telephonic station of the packet-basedtelephonic network, said method comprising: originating a call with aselected identification sequence defined pursuant to a first numberingplan; detecting indications representative of the selectedidentification sequence for requesting termination with a telephonicstation of the packet-based telephonic network; sending an identifierfrom the originating telephonic station, the identifier being a mnemonicassociated with the packet-based telephonic station; representative ofan IP address identifying the terminating telephonic station;maintaining a database including the mnemonic indexed together with anIP address of the terminating packet-based telephonic station; andcompleting the call to the terminating packet-based telephonic stationbased on the IP address.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein theidentification sequence defined pursuant to the first selected numberingplan during said operation of originating comprises a number formattedpursuant to a North American Numbering Plan.
 17. The method of claim 15wherein a media gateway interconnects the packet-based network and thetime domain multiplexing network, said method further comprising theoperation of routing the call originated during said operation throughthe media gateway.